ˀnənʔæj
=Phonology= Consonants The language has 44 consonants: *There are 22 obstruents, consisting of the stops, affricates, and fricatives. *There are 22 sonorants, consisting of the nasals and approximants. *Glottalized stops are pronounced as ejective consonants. Glottalized sonorants may be pronounced with creaky voice: = . * The glottalized consonants of contrast not only with plain consonants, but also with sequences of plain consonant + glottal stop, or glottalized consonant + glottal stop, in either order. This holds for both the obstruents and the sonorants: ≠ ≠ ≠ ≠ ≠ and ≠ ≠ ≠ ≠ ≠ . * The dental approximants are pronounced alternatively as interdental fricatives or as dental fricatives , depending on the dialect of . * There are four pairs of retracted and nonretracted consonants (which alternate morphophonemically). Retraction on consonants is essentially velarization, although additionally, nonretracted is phonetically laminal while retracted is apical . ** ** ** ** * Among the post-velar consonants, the obstruents are all uvular while the approximants are all pharyngeal. Vowels Diphthongs Any combination of vowel + / or / + vowel is valid. Syllables Syllables consist of a consonant plus a vowel, with an optional consonant at the end. No syllable can begin with a vowel. Stress Although not following any defined pattern, stress is meaningful in a considerable number of words. Most words are regularly stressed on the next-to-last (penultimate) syllable, but there are words in which stress goes on the last syllable. Some regular uses of stress shifting are as follows: #Ordinal numbers are obtained by shifting the stress of cardinal numbers to the last syllable. #The comparative form of adjectives have a stress shift associated with a suffix. #In some words which can be both verbs and nouns, stress is regular when the word is used as a noun, and shifted to the last syllable when the word is used as a verb. #*Some derivative verbs with causal meaning are stressed on the first syllable. Tone Although not one of the most important features of the language, tones are present in most dialects. They are generally used to distinguish a nucleus from satellites in syntagmas, although other uses have been attested such as distinguishing a noun from a verb. In the standard language, although there are traces of tones in nouns, verbs and adjectives, they are not a distinctive feature and are not governed by any rules, so it is generally not taken in consideration unless a perfect, fine mastering of the language is required. =Morphology= Nominals The nominal inflectional categories are definiteness, number, case and declension (free or absolute, bound or possessive). There are two numbers, singular and plural. One special group of nouns has also a dual number. The absolute declension is used for animate beings, abstract ideas and all other nouns which can not be possessed. The bound declension is for nouns whose normal state is that of being possessed. Some nouns may be used in both declensions, depending on whether they are or not possessed. E.g., words denoting animals are declined as absolute in the case of wild animals but as bound in the case of household animals. Adjectives agree with nouns in all aspects, including declension. Nouns Nouns in are surprisingly regular. The declension table below is valid for all nouns, except for the dual which is used only with a special group of nouns indicated in the list below. Articles Definite Indefinite Adjectives Predicative Attributive Declension Degrees Comparative =Predicative = =Attributive = =Inflection = Superlative =Predicative = =Attributive = =Inflection = Pronouns Personal Possessive Demonstrative Interrogative Relative Indefinite Numbers Cardinal has a number system of base sixteen. There are two series of numbers up to 15, one full and one shortened. The shortened set is used for combining with other words, including nouns, while the full set is used in isolation. } |- |112 |0x70 |colspan="2"| |- |128 |0x80 |colspan="2"| |- |144 |0x90 |colspan="2"| |- |160 |0xA0 |colspan="2"| |- |176 |0xB0 |colspan="2"| |- |192 |0xC0 |colspan="2"| |- |208 |0xD0 |colspan="2"| |- |224 |0xE0 |colspan="2"| |- |240 |0xF0 |colspan="2"| |- |256 |0x100 |colspan="2"| |} Ordinal Ordinal numbers consist in the long form of the cardinal numbers with stress shifted to the last syllable. Verbs Notions Time Aspect Person Mood Modality Classes Regular Conjugation Irregular Verbs Undeclined Prepositions Conjunctions Adverbs =Syntax= Category:Conlangs